


We're All In This (Together)

by Marauder_Girl



Series: Fall Buddie Week 2019 [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV), High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, High School Drama, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Whoops it's a Buddie Teacher AU y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2020-10-31 07:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20789396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marauder_Girl/pseuds/Marauder_Girl
Summary: The High School Musical/9-1-1 crossover that no one asked for. Featuring Buck as an art/art history teacher, Eddie as a school counselor, and Ryan and Chad as two teenage boys in love.





	1. Chapter 1

Ryan slid into a chair in the back of the classroom, sighing internally. He _should _have a free period right now, but somehow that stupidly good-looking counselor had convinced him to take an Art History class. He had claimed ‘it would change his life’ and that even if Ryan wasn’t interested, Julliard would like a applicant that was more well-rounded than just music and theater. At the time, Ryan had supposed he had a point, but now, waiting for the last class of the day to start with no caffeine, Ryan was regretting the decision.

He pulled out his phone, checking some messages from his sister, before glancing around the classroom. It was about three-fourths full of mainly freshmen and sophomores, evident by their high energy and non-stop chatter. There was no way he was going to be the only senior in this class, and he was just about to get up and cut his losses when Chad Danforth burst into the room, his curls bouncing as he took a seat right next to Ryan.

“Evans.” He nodded, holding his basketball on the desk. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s school.” Ryan said, quickly and dryly, looking Chard up and down. “What are you doing in the Arts Wing?”

Chad snorted, a small amused laugh escaping him. “Like I never come visit you?” When his question was met with silence, he sighed a little. “I needed to fill my art requirement and that one counselor told me that this would be a good option.”

Ryan made a hummed in acknowledgement, getting out his notebook and a pen from his bag, while glancing over at Chad. He hadn’t spent a significant amount of time with the other teen since last summer when practically everyone worked at Lava Springs. Especially since the baseball game…Chad had been distant and removed, only nodding to Ryan in the halls, a stark contrast to how they had started hanging out every day during the summer months, both fed up with their respective best friends. Next to him, Chad cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Still planning on applying for Julliard?” He asked, catching Ryan off guard. That was the absolute last thing that Ryan had planned on coming out of Chad’s mouth, and the fact that he had remembered Julliard…Ryan shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Danforth did _not _like him, he just _used _him.

“Still planning on chasing a ball up and down the court?” Ryan asked back, an edge to his voice. Before Chad could respond the door opened, a tall blonde man, with slightly disheveled curly hair walking through. Silence lapsed in the classroom, the underclassmen finally settling down upon seeing an adult presumed to be in charge. The blonde made his way to the front of the classroom, setting his pile of papers down on the desk in the front of the room.

“Good afternoon everyone!” He leaned against the edge of the desk, crossing his legs in front of him. “My name is _technically _Mr. Buckley but you can all call me Buck. I’m the new art and art history teacher at East High since Mrs. Smith retired at the end of last semester.” He pulled out a sheet from his stack of papers, grabbing a pen from the LAFD cup on his desk. “Now even though you’re all going to groan and hate me for it, we’re going to go around the room and say our preferred names, our pronouns, and which year in school we are. I’ll go as an example: My name is Buck, I use he/him/his pronouns and I’m too old to be in class as a student so I became a teacher.” The class laughed, and Ryan raised his eyebrows impressed. He didn’t think that this new, first-time teacher would be any good, but he seemed immediately at ease and even asked for _pronouns_, which is something Ryan had never heard a teacher at East High ask for before. “Any questions?”

A girl in the front raised her hand, nervously. “What do you mean by our preferred name?”

Buck smiled at her, and Ryan swore half of the room melted into a puddle (himself included). “That’s an excellent question! Some people don’t like to go by the ‘legal name’ or the name that appears on the roster and wish to be called something different! This works for nicknames as well. Any other questions?”

“Yeah.” A guy in the front stood up. “Why we gotta say our pronouns? You know by looking at us if we’re men or girls.”

Buck straightened up from where he had been leaning against the desk. “What’s your name?”

“Cooper.”

“Well, Cooper, some individuals don’t ascribe to the two binary genders – that is male or female – or the gender at which they are declared at birth. Some don’t feel comfortable using such gendered language and prefer a neutral option or they and them. Others simply identify how they identify and want their pronouns to match.” He paused here, considering his words. “It is _not _our job to tell someone how they want to be addressed or who they are. Our job, in this classroom, is to learn with an open mind and be respectful of others. That’s all I ask of you – of any of you. And if you have a problem with that, you need to let me know so that I can get you transferred to another class before the semester gets too much underway.” He looked around the room, eyes seemingly landing on each of them. “Now, let’s get going huh? You with the basketball in the back – why don’t you start us off?”

Ryan snickered lightly as Chad startled in his seat. He couldn’t tell if he hadn’t been paying attention or if he had been absorbed in Buck’s speech but either way he looked like a deer in headlights. “Um – okay. Yeah. My name is Chad, I use he/him/his,” at this he looked questioningly to Buck who nodded encouragingly. “And I’m a senior which means June 2ndand I’m out!” He grinned, clearly pleased when others in the class started laughing.

“Thank you, Chad. Why don’t we go up your row and make a giant square?”

The introductions dragged on, causing Ryan to impatiently glance at the clock a few times. It was only an hour period, but it felt like it was taking twice as long. He yawned, blinking when Chad nudged him.

“Dude, Ryan!” He hissed. “You’re next!”

Ryan straightened up in his chair, ignoring the way his body lit up from the brief contact with Chad’s. “Hi, I’m Ryan. I use he/him pronouns and I’m a senior.”

At the front of the classroom Buck clapped his hands. “That was great guys thanks! I know it took a bit longer than some of you would have liked, but it’s really helpful to do that right at the beginning of the semester.” He started handing out packets of paper to each student, walking around the room as he continued to talk. “Right now I’m handing out the syllabus. All of the assignments and point breakdowns are listed on here, which you can look over in more detail after class. The main thing is, is that there will be no tests in my class.” He paused as the room started talking excitedly, and Ryan could see Chad’s grin out of the corner of his eye. “Instead, we’ll be working on a partner project all semester, with different components due at different times. I’ll be handing out your partner assignments at the start of next week, once I’ve gotten the chance to know everyone a little better.”

At this Ryan slumped in his seat. He _hated _group projects, especially since he ended up doing all the work himself while his partner just got an easy ‘A’. And he’d have to do it for this project to – he couldn’t afford to get a bad grade and let his chance at Julliard slip through his fingers. Beside him, Chad was flipping through his syllabus, pausing as he got to the assignment breakdown.

“Mr. uh Buck?” He asked, half raising his hand. “It says we have an assignment due on Friday. That’s not right is it?”

Buck laughed lightly. “Thanks for the segue Chad. Unfortunately for you all, that is right but I promise it’s not a hard assignment. I want you all to write a one to two page response paper, no formal language or formal analysis which we’ll go over later, about your favorite work of art and why it’s your favorite. It can be about whatever you want it to be, as long as you can write one page about why it’s your favorite.”

The bell rang loudly overhead, signaling the end to the period, and the school day. “All right that’s it for today everybody! If you have any questions see me now, or after class tomorrow.”

The class packed up in a hurry, Ryan along with them. He had a dance practice at 3:45 on the other side of town he needed to hurry to, and he couldn’t afford to be late.

As he was walking out to his car, his phone buzzed against his thigh. He wiggled it out of his pocket, expecting int to be his sister, only to find a text from Chad.

**Chad: **

_What are you doing for that paper? _

Ryan stared at the message, typing out ‘_Drop dead Danforth_’ before deleting it, and shoving it back into his pocket. He wasn’t going to waste any time this semester on stupid, insufferably hot Chad Danforth. Nope.

\---

Buck walked into his house after work, only to be greeted by the sounds of The Ninja Turtles playing on TV and the smell of dinner cooking in the oven. He went into the kitchen, setting down his bag on the bench by the door. “Hello Mr. Diaz.” He said upon seeing his husband.

“Mhmm, hello to you too Mr. Buckley.” Eddie replied back, walking over to give Buck a light kiss on the mouth. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Great, I’m starving!”

“When are you not?” asked Eddie, laughing as Buck’s eyes narrowed at him in mock indignation.

“Watch it Mister, I could put you in detention.”

“Ooooh.” Eddie teased, sliding a hand around Buck’s waist and pulling him close from where he had been looking at what was on the stove. “Something you want to experiment with?”

Buck laughed, pressing a kiss to Eddie’s cheek. “Yeah and never look any of those kids in the eye again? No, thank you.” He moved away to start getting the table set, pulling out a stack of plates from the cupboard. “How was Chris’s day?” 

Eddie smiled, thinking of their 10 year old son. “Fantastic. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it at dinner.”

“Good. I missed picking him from school but I had that stupid meeting new teachers are required to go to.”

“How was your day besides that?” Eddie asked, grabbing silverware from the drawer to help.

“You mean besides getting to see my husband?” Buck smiled, then paused thinking back to his last period class. “I actually think it went okay.” His mind flashed to the two seniors who although sitting next to each other, looked like they’d rather be worlds away. “In fact, I think I have my first partner group made up for that project I was telling you about.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long awaited update containing almost 2K of pure fluff sprinkled with some plot. We're getting there folks slowly but surely.

Friday morning dawned bright and hectic in the Danforth household, complete with snoozed alarms and broken hair ties. Chad was just putting some waffles in the toaster for his sisters when his mom rushed in the kitchen, pausing to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Morning sweetheart.”

“Morning mama.” Chad replied, before gesturing his head to the travel mug on the counter. “Your coffee’s all-ready to go.”

His mom took a sip of it and sighed, running a hand over his curls. “Don’t tell your sisters but you’re my favorite.” Chad grinned, ducking away to grab plates, as his mom stuffed things in her purse. “Speaking of your sisters, can you pick them up after school and drop them at their dance class? I’m not going to be out of work soon enough today.”

“Yeah, I can grab the trouble-makers today.” He said, looking up as there was bang from upstairs, followed by yelling.

“Chad!” Clarissa shrieked running down the stairs, Carmen hot on her heels. “Carmen has my blue dance tights!”

“Chad!” echoed back Carmen, as the two 10-year olds screeched to a halt in front of their older brother. “Clarissa’s lying! Hers are on the washing machine!”

“Woah guys! Flag on the play!” He handed each girl her plate, before directing them to the table. “They are identical tights; we don’t need to fight about them. And what happened to packing your bags at night?” Both girls shrugged, their fight apparently halted in the face of breakfast. Chad rolled his eyes before grabbing his bag off the floor and pressing a kiss to his mom’s cheek. “Alright Trouble One and Trouble Two, I’ll see you guys after school. Be good for mom!” He grabbed his keys before he was out the door, wincing as he looked at the clock. He was definitely going to be late.

\------

Friday morning dawned bright and hectic in the Buckley-Diaz household, although for slightly different reasons. “I’m serious Eddie! Change your shirt!”

“Buck, you’re being ridiculous. It’s just a shirt, and we’re running late.”

“It is _not _just a shirt, it’s a shirt that looks too amazing on you for me to behave myself at work.” Eddie raised an unimpressed eyebrow but didn’t budge. “Babe.” Buck pleaded, turning to face his husband and putting his hands underneath said shirt. “Please?”

“Buck…” said Eddie lowly, eying his husband.

“Eddie…” Buck drew out, looking at his husband with wide eyes. “That’s the shirt you wore the night you proposed. That is a “for sure gonna bang you on the nearest surface” shirt, that is not a suitable shirt for work.” He pressed one, then two and three lingering kisses to Eddie’s lips before his husband finally softened.

“You’re a softie.” Eddie informed him, as he pulled off his shirt, trading it for a denim one in their closet.

“I’m a softie for not wanting to get fired at work?” asked Buck before laughing as Eddie threw the rejected shirt at him. “C’mon! I don’t want to be late!”

“I – I’m the one who told you we were going to be late!”

“Details, details!” Buck teased, as they moved into the kitchen, grabbing Christopher’s lunch from the fridge. “Chris! You almost ready to go?”

“I can’t find my shoes!” Christopher called back, coming down the hallway slowly.

“You mean _these _shoes?” Eddie asked, holding up Christopher’s preferred sneakers that had been lying in the living room.

“Oh. Yeah! Thanks Dad!” He sat down to put his shoes on and grab the jacket his dad handed him, before declaring himself ready.

“Alright, superman! Let’s go!” Buck said smiling, waiting at the door. “We gotta get you to school!”

Eddie glanced at the clock hanging in the hallway as he pulled the door shut to lock it after his boys. Right on time.

\---

Chad slipped into his seat last period quietly, hoping that if he didn’t draw attention to himself, nothing else would happen. He had already had to plead with Ms. Darbus to not get detention due to being late, run sprints in practice for messing up a play, and put up with the increasing melodrama that was Gabriella and Troy. He just needed to lay low until the bell rang and he could go pick up his sisters.

Up at the front of the room, Buck clapped his hands silencing the intermittent chatter occurring throughout the class. “Alright guys! Pass those papers up to the front of your rows, and I’ll flip through them while you answer the daily question I have up!” The room erupted into movement, students pulling out notebooks and folders to turn in the assignment. Chad sighed and put his head down on his desk. He had forgotten to do the first assignment of the class…maybe Taylor was right, and he _was _just a dumb basketball player. He sat up slowly, shaking his head as he pulled out his notebook, noticing the glance Ryan was giving him out of the corner of his eye. It would be just his luck for Ryan to let loose on him today too. As he started scribbling down an answer about social movement and art, he noticed the once over Buck gave him before setting the pile of papers down on the desk behind him.

“Okay! Let’s get started! Who can tell me a way that art plays a role in historic social movements?”

Class continued on in the same manner, Buck’s engaging and energetic teaching managing to capture Chad’s attention and distract him from the spectacularly bad day he was having. It wasn’t until the final five minutes that the distractions came crashing down. “That about wraps it up for today! Any questions?” asked Buck as he leaned back against the desk.

Up at the front of the room, a girl named Jennifer raised her hand. “You said you’d have our partner assignments today? Are they done?” A few others nodded excitedly, although Chad noticed Ryan slumping in his seat just a bit more than he normally did. He noticed a lot of things that Ryan did…not that it mattered. Chad had ruined that as well.

Buck widened his eyes and gave a slight laugh. “You know, I actually forgot the assignements at my house this morning trying to get my kid out the door.”

“You have a kid?” Another student asked, curiousity written all over their face.

“Mhmm.” Buck nodded, smiling at them. “His name is Christopher, he’s 10.”

“So are you married?” Jennifer asked, twirling her hair around her finger. Chad rolled his eyes as half the class held their breath in anticipation. The dude was good looking, but not _that _good looking. If Chad were the type to go for guys, he’d much prefer the kind that looked like their school counselor.

“I am actually. My husband and I have been married almost 2 years now.” The bell rang out as Buck finished his statement, ending the unofficial 20 questions that had started. “Okay guys, have a good weekend! I’ll have those assignments for you on Monday!” Buck called out in a loud voice as his students started to leave. “Chad? Can you stay a minute to chat?”

Chad stopped from where he had been heading out the door, taking a step back into the classroom. “I can only stay about 5 minutes. I’m picking up my sisters from school today.”

“No problem.” Said Buck, waving off the time constraint. He waited until the last student had filed out before speaking again. “I noticed you didn’t turn in your paper.”

Chad felt himself flush, the back of his neck getting red. “Yeah. I forgot?”

Buck raised an unimpressed eyebrow as he folded his arms. “You forgot about an assignment the first week of class?”

“Yes? I mean technically I didn’t forget; I just didn’t do it. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I don’t know any art and I couldn’t pick a favorite art again because I don’t know art and –”

“Breathe Chad!”

“Sorry.” Chad mumbled, even more embarrassed after his outburst. “I just…I didn’t want you to think I was stupid or something. I’m not!”

“I know you’re not Chad. But you need to _try_. Even if trying is telling me you have no clue what to write about.”

“I – yeah. Okay.” He scuffed his sneaker along the floor as he waited for some kind of punishment.

“Good. Now I’ll give you until Monday to write this paper, okay?”

“Wait, really?” Chad asked, his head jerking up. “Why?”

Buck smiled and shrugged. “Everyone deserves a second chance.” He moved around his desk to grab a sheet of paper. “Here’s some suggestions for what you can write it on. Remember – it can literally be anything. Comic books, movies, “classic” art. As long as you turn something in, and you try, I’ll be happy. Got it?”

“Yes, sir! I mean, wait no, yes Buck!” Chad beamed as he took the paper from the older man, stuffing into his bag.

Buck laughed, as he grabbed a binder and his own bag from behind his desk. “C’mon let’s go. I need to meet up with my husband, and _you _need to go pick up those sisters of yours.”

\-----

Eddie looked up just as his husband was leaning against the doorway of his office, his work bag slung over his shoulder. “You ready to go?”

“Mhmm. It’s a Friday, and I believe there’s a movie night calling my name at home.”

Eddie laughed lightly as he grabbed his own things, leaning in to give Buck a quick kiss on the cheek as he passed by. “A movie night? That doesn’t sound like something we do at all!” He teased, laughing again as Buck stuck his tongue out at him. “Very mature Mr. Buckley. Did you learn that from our son?”

“No I learned it from this guy I know who I happen to share a bed with. I believe he goes by Mr. Diaz.”

“Very funny.” Eddie deadpanned, as he herded Buck out of his office and shut the door. “You’re a comedian.”

“Our son seems to think so!” quipped Buck, tangling his fingers with Eddie’s as they walked out of the deserted building to go pick up Christopher.

\---

“Chad!” Clarissa called out, running full speed to her brother, her twin hot on her heels. “You’re here!”

“You knew I would be!” protested Chad, bending down to give each twin a quick hug. “You troublemakers ready to go?” Clarissa nodded and turned to walk to the car, but Carmen held out a piece of paper.

“I made you this! It’s you playing basketball! And there’s me and mom and Clarissa and Troy because he’s your best friend and gives good piggy back rides.”

Chad smiled as he studied it, squatting down so he was closer to his sister’s height. “I love it Carmen. You did a great job!”

“Thanks!” Carmen chirped, tugging on Chad to catch up to her sister who was waiting by the car. “Mrs. Wilson thinks I can be an artist! I told her I want to be a ballerina or an astronaut but I’d keep artist as a back up career.”

Chad laughed as he climbed into the car, double checking that both his sisters were buckled up. “Well it’s good to have options kid. You guys set? I don’t want you to be late for dance!” 

After getting a resounding yes from the backseat, Chad drove out of the parking lot, his sister's telling him all about their day, as he thought about the picture that lay next to him in the front seat. Maybe Mr. Buck was right...art could literally be anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me 4 months to update (which could be a new record for me, I haven't written a multi chapter fic in forever! Shoutout to my past self for deleting this chapter in a fit of rage over my writing. Go me. 
> 
> Actual shoutout to the lovely comments and all the kudos I have for this fic! I started this to be self-indulgent so the fact that people like it? Truly amazing. You guys are rockstars. :) 
> 
> As always catch me on tumblr under the same username or on the discord (i'm in eternal time out now this has been a life goal of mine since June).

**Author's Note:**

> Technically for Fall Buddie Week Day 4: Cross-Over but also an idea that's been floating around in my head/documents ever since there was a discord chat about it (shout-out to cait and ken and sav for their lovely encouragement). 
> 
> This will be my first multi-chaptered fic on here so bear with me!


End file.
